The Great Labour Unrest

Rank-and-file movements and political change in the Durham coalfield

Author Lewis H. Mates

Contains two pivotal comparative aspects; comparing socialist and syndicalist activists in tandem, and making fruitful comparisons with the contemporary dynamics of the situation in the South Wales coalfield, addressing the question of the latter's exceptionalism

Makes a genuine contribution to core debates about the 'rise of Labour', the nature of British syndicalism, the relationship between industrial and political militancy, the nature and impact of activists' ideology, the minimum wage, 'structure and agency' and "rank-and-filism"

Provides the first published account of a front-ranking British miners' district union focusing on the fascinating and turbulent 'Great Labour Unrest' period

The Great Labour Unrest

Rank-and-file movements and political change in the Durham coalfield

Author Lewis H. Mates

Description

This book examines the struggle between liberals, socialists and revolutionary syndicalists for control of Britain>'s best established district miners>' union. Drawing widely on a vast and rich body of primary sources, the book reveals the debates that grassroots activists had during this the fascinating and turbulent 'Great Labour Unrest' period. It charts the contexts in which the socialists challenged the union>'s Liberal leaders from the late 1890s and considers the complex strikes in 1910 against the implementation of the Liberal government>'s miners>' eight-hour day. It then goes on to analyse the emergence and development of a mass rank-and-file movement in the coalfield based around demands for a miners>' minimum wage and, when this principle was won in March 1912, for an improved minimum wage. This book is of interest to academics, advanced students and lay people interested in political, social and economic history, political thought, economics, and industrial relations.

The Great Labour Unrest

Rank-and-file movements and political change in the Durham coalfield

Author Lewis H. Mates

Reviews and Awards

"Mates claims to offer a case study which gives a new perspective on the nature and significance of the turmoil in Edwardian Britain. It is a claim that is well justified. Like every good case study, it demonstrates the complexity of events and the role of the personal and the idiosyncratic. But it also demonstrates convincingly the intertwining of the political and the industrial struggles in the early years of the twentieth century, with the consequences that are with us still." - Quentin Outram, University of Leeds, Labour History Review, vol. 81 No. 2 July 2016

"This is a painstakingly thorough account." - Don Watson, North East History no. 47 2016

"the language used is never obscure, this is [EL] a very rigorous academic study'. 'Activists 'need to draw on material and approaches from studies like this book, presenting them primarily as examples of how historians pose and seek to clarify problems. We need to do this without crudifying the reasoning processes of the historians involved, but to do it, at the same time, in such a way as so far as possible to convince activists who are not academically trained that they too can think historically'."- Colin Waugh, Post-16 Educator, 86 (January, 2017), pp. 20-21

"The book displays an impressive grasp of sources and the text is exhaustively annotated. Mates mines the extant minutes of the DMA and its lodges (branches) and makes use of the extensive local newspaper coverage of the coal industry." - John Tomaney, The London School of Economics and Political Science

"Mates has produced an important and valuable contribution to the historiography of both the 'Great Labour Unrest' and the 'rise of Labour'. Furthermore, his exceptionally detailed and convincingly argued case study highlights the crucial importance of understanding local conditions and circumstances if we are to fully understand national changes". - David Selway, Sussex University, Twentieth Century British History October 2016

"A 'wonderful work of scholarship' that 'employs a formidable wealth of hitherto barely utilized primary evidence to evaluate even-handedly the objective and subjective constraints and opportunities at work'. It 'makes an important distinct contribution'." - Ralph Darlington, University of Salford, Economic History Review, 70, 1 (2017), pp. 342-343

"Naturally, the centenary of the [Great Labour] unrest brought renewed interest in the phenomenon, though not as much as one would expect in a country that once led the world in labour studies, guided by the twin towers of E. P. Thompson and Eric Hobsbawm. For that reason, among others, Lewis Mates's monograph is especially welcome'. 'Mates avoids the partisan, special pleading that has characterized much of the literature arguing for syndicalist influence on contemporary British workers and adopts a more complex and multi-faceted approachEL' 'EL it is written clearly, researched thoroughly, objective and judicious in interpretation. It makes a substantial contribution to the debate on the Great Labour Unrest and will be of immense interest to students of the topic'." - Emmet O'Connor, Ulster University, History, 102:350 (April 2017), pp. 326-327